Is Gun Ownership a Right?

[montana]

Why? Primarily because:

a. The courts (conservative and liberal) have upheld the laws.
b. The people did not force the government to rescind the laws.

You are not being factually honest here Stan, the DC vs Heller case rescinded the decades long handgun ban and how they are stored. The people did force the government to rescind those laws through the courts. Like I stated before elections do have consequences.

That's what the militia was supposed to do. What passes for the militia these days is the National Guard, which (except for nukes) does have the same types of weapons as the Federal government.

Again you are not being honest or correct about the militia. The militia laws are still in place.

The Militia Clauses

Clause 15. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.

Clause 16. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/a...auses.html
The militia laws are still law whether you believe they are pointless or not.

The Founding Fathers believed many things.

Most of them believed they had the right to enslave black people (who apparently were not endowed with any "God given" rights).

Nearly all of them believed that white women should not have the same rights as white men.

Thomas Jefferson believed that we should not go even 20 years without having a bloody, armed rebellion against the government..
I don't much care what the Founding Fathers believed..

Your personal feelings of the founding fathers has zero relevance to this discussion. The founders intent with our gun rights is another.

More important is what people today believe. And even more important is what they do.

Yes it is important what people believe and do today,"elections matter", but when some people completely disregard historical content, context and intent, there is no point in trying to have a discussion or dialog with those same people about our gun rights.